Lucas Adamson
Well-known member
I don't want to start a new Canon vs. Lumix thread, as I'm a good boy and I know it's verboten, and rightly so, but I have just spent the weekend doing a shoot of a circus/physical theatre piece in a converted church (Circomedia in Bristol UK) with a hacked GH1 and a Canon 60D and there have been issues I feel I ought to report with both as I didn't know some of this stuff before (in spite of endless reading.)
1. Images from both cameras at 1080p25 match up very well. I turned NR and sharpening off on both.
2. The 60D overheated 3 times and caused error warnings. We didn't lose a shot over it, as it recorded the image to disc, but it did stop recording. The GH1 didn't at all.
3. The 60D had a max 12 minute record time. The GH1 had none.
4. The 60D produces file sizes 3 times the size of the GH1 (hacked to lpowell reliable settings) That's 16Gb to 5.5Gb as I remember it. Go figure! They're both full HD H.264 but in different wrappers - AVCHD vs. Quicktime.
5. Canon Quicktime files have consecutive unique numbering making file management during editing easy. Panasonic AVCHD files reset to 00000 each time you delete the card, making file management a freaking nightmare I still haven't resolved. Premiere CS5 supposedly edits native AVCHD, but it's rubbish. I wish I'd stayed with and upgraded FCS now, as I'm going to have to transcode anyway, to keep my files in check as much as anything. I'm using XDCam HD422 50Mbps, which is good, but not perfect - there is a slight degradation, but it has to be worth it, because native AVCHD is horrible. This is the BIG downside with Panasonic's AVCHD, in my opinion - nasty file management - impossible almost. The editing of AVCHD I can't complain about, as a faster computer with a CUDA card would eat it up I'm sure.
6. I am shocked to report that I used the 14-140mm lens exclusively for 2 days solid. I have Zeiss manual primes that I've had from the Canon 5D days, and I love them. Not only that but historically I've always said that I hate autofocus and zoom lenses, being a purist manual focus primes man. But on this shoot, I started off with the 14-140 as I needed a wide, and I just loved it. I didn't need short depth of field as the background was blacked out, creating highly focussed subjects anyway. Great lens. It did go hunting now and then, but I my friend Adam on the 60D fared worse focussing manually. I shot at 140mm a lot too - really great lens.
7. My GH1 image is very clean at iso800, which I shot at for most of the shoot. The 60D shot at similarly high iso settings, and I've seen more coloured pattern noise on his images than mine.
8. The Canon is much better built and the ergonomics are good, and there was a definite sense that I had a toy and Adam a real pro camera. The images tell a different story though.
1. Images from both cameras at 1080p25 match up very well. I turned NR and sharpening off on both.
2. The 60D overheated 3 times and caused error warnings. We didn't lose a shot over it, as it recorded the image to disc, but it did stop recording. The GH1 didn't at all.
3. The 60D had a max 12 minute record time. The GH1 had none.
4. The 60D produces file sizes 3 times the size of the GH1 (hacked to lpowell reliable settings) That's 16Gb to 5.5Gb as I remember it. Go figure! They're both full HD H.264 but in different wrappers - AVCHD vs. Quicktime.
5. Canon Quicktime files have consecutive unique numbering making file management during editing easy. Panasonic AVCHD files reset to 00000 each time you delete the card, making file management a freaking nightmare I still haven't resolved. Premiere CS5 supposedly edits native AVCHD, but it's rubbish. I wish I'd stayed with and upgraded FCS now, as I'm going to have to transcode anyway, to keep my files in check as much as anything. I'm using XDCam HD422 50Mbps, which is good, but not perfect - there is a slight degradation, but it has to be worth it, because native AVCHD is horrible. This is the BIG downside with Panasonic's AVCHD, in my opinion - nasty file management - impossible almost. The editing of AVCHD I can't complain about, as a faster computer with a CUDA card would eat it up I'm sure.
6. I am shocked to report that I used the 14-140mm lens exclusively for 2 days solid. I have Zeiss manual primes that I've had from the Canon 5D days, and I love them. Not only that but historically I've always said that I hate autofocus and zoom lenses, being a purist manual focus primes man. But on this shoot, I started off with the 14-140 as I needed a wide, and I just loved it. I didn't need short depth of field as the background was blacked out, creating highly focussed subjects anyway. Great lens. It did go hunting now and then, but I my friend Adam on the 60D fared worse focussing manually. I shot at 140mm a lot too - really great lens.
7. My GH1 image is very clean at iso800, which I shot at for most of the shoot. The 60D shot at similarly high iso settings, and I've seen more coloured pattern noise on his images than mine.
8. The Canon is much better built and the ergonomics are good, and there was a definite sense that I had a toy and Adam a real pro camera. The images tell a different story though.
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